Bramble & Squirrel Since You've Been Gone
by Loudy
Summary: This is my version of what happens after Brambleclaw leaves Squirrelflight at the end of Sunrise.
1. Chapter 1

The clearing grew dead silent as Hollyleaf looked around, a knowing, wild look in her eyes as she addressed all four Clans, "You think you know me," she began. "And my brothers, Lionblaze and Jayfeather of ThunderClan. You think you know us, but everything you have been told about us is a lie! We are not the kits of Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight."

Brambleclaw looked at Hollyleaf, his amber eyes as round as the full moon that floated above the island. What did she mean that she wasn't his and Squirrelflight's kit? He had been there since she and her brothers were in the nursery. He had raised them as his own. What Hollyleaf had just said began to sink in and the dark brown tabby tom shot to his paws from where he sat among the roots of the Great Oak with the other deputies, his eyes flaming. "Squirrelflight, why is she talking such nonsense?"

Squirrelflight stood up, the panic in her eyes faded and was replaced with another unreadable emotion. "I'm sorry, Brambleclaw, but it's true. I'm not their mother, and you are not their father."

Something sparked inside of Brambleclaw's head. Betrayal, rage, and hurt longed to be released from the ThunderClan deputy at his mate, but with some amazing self-control, he bit them back. "Then who is?" he managed to say after a moment of simply being able to stare at her.

Her sad green eyes turned to the cat that she had always told Brambleclaw was his daughter. "Tell them, Hollyleaf. I kept the secret for many seasons; I'm not going to reveal it now."

"Coward!" Hollyleaf shrieked. She looked around the clearing- every cat was looking at her, except for Brambleclaw who was still glaring at Squirrelflight. "I'm not afraid of the truth! Leafpool is our mother, and Crowfeather- yes, Crowfeather of WindClan- is our father."

Brambleclaw flattened his ears, unable to take the deafening yowls of shock and horror coming from the other cats at the announcement. His fur began to bristle and thought back to everything that he and Squirrelflight had went through together. Why couldn't she trust him? He thought he could trust her with anything, but apparently that feeling was not Hollyleaf said after that he did not hear. The next thing he saw was Leafpool pushing her way through the bushes to leave and the island falling silent and frozen. Brambleclaw took a shaky breath and was the first to move, padding forward until he stood face to face with Squirrelflight. "Why?" he questioned, hurt aching in his tone.

"I had to! She's my sister!" she replied desperately.

"And you couldn't trust me?" he shot back, his voice starting to falter. Several minutes of silence passed. When she did not reply, he turned his head away from her for a few moments before looking back at her. "You couldn't trust me. Don't you think I would have helped you, if you'd told me the truth? But it's too late now." He turned his back to her and shoulder a path through the crowd.

"Brambleclaw-" He heard her cry, but he ignored her and kept walking. Then he burst into a run, not stopping until he reached the Ancient Oak and crawled into the cranny beneath the roots. Once again, he thought of Squirrelflight and how proud he was when the kits were born.


	2. Chapter 2

**Brambleclaw awoke the next morning back at camp in his nest, having walked home groggily in the middle of the night. He opened his eyes slightly to see Squirrelflight curled up beside him and was tempted to talk to her, but decided against it. He was through with her. He would never trust her again. Brambleclaw stood up and shoved Squirrelflight away, receiving a frustrated, sad look, and padded out to the camp's clearing, looking around for someone to go on the dawn patrol. The first cats he saw were Hazeltail, who was munching on a crow while gossiping with Poppyfrost about the events that took place the night before.**

**"Hazeltail, Poppyfrost," he called, strolling over to them, barely able to keep his eyes open he was so tired. "Um…" He paused to collect his thoughts. "Uh, Hazeltail, will you take out a patrol with Poppyfrost and, err… um, Foxpaw? Or Cloudtail? Actually just take whoever you want… maybe Berrynose. He's barely been out of camp since Honeyfern died…?" He blinked awkwardly, wondering what was wrong with him.**

**"****Of course, Brambleclaw!" Her blue eyes shone excitedly at being chosen to lead the dawn patrol. She stood up, completely forgetting about her crow, and started to pad off with Poppyfrost before turning to look back at him. "Do you want to come with us, Brambleclaw? You look like you need to get out of camp too." Her excitement turned to hesitated, not sure whether he should go or stay behind and get some rest. Hazeltail blinked up at him hopefully, and he gave in. **

**"Sure." He smiled as her face lit up and she dashed off with Poppyfrost to the warriors' den to fetch Berrynose. Brambleclaw padded over to the entrance to wait for them patiently. He sat down, wrapping his tail around his paws neatly. His head began to loll to the side as he started to doze off.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Brambleclaw? Brambleclaw…?" A paw jabbed his side. Brambleclaw moaned and buried his face in his paws, swatting it away. "Brambleclaw, you have got get up now," the voice said again.

"Go away," he mumbled. "I'm trying to sleep." He began thrashing like a young kit as whoever was talking to him picked him up by his scruff and was placed back down on his paws. The fiery ginger leader stood in front of him, an edge of worry and frustration on his face.

Firestar ran to help keep him up as he began to stumble. "Are you alright? Maybe I should take you to Jayfeather."

"I'm fine," Brambleclaw insisted, almost falling again.

"No, you aren't. Come on. Let's go see Jayfeather."

"I don't want to see him!" he wailed.

Firestar flinched, his eyes wide in shock. "Brambleclaw, I know you're upset, but you don't have to yell."

Brambleclaw didn't look at him. He just sighed, feeling bad about yelling at Firestar. He hadn't deserved it- he was only trying to help. "I'm sorry, Firestar… I'm just… I was up half the night at Ancient Oak- I go there to be alone sometimes- then I walked back home half asleep… and it took me forever to get sleep once I got there because of last night…"Firestar nodded understandingly. "I understand, but Squirrelflight didn't mean to hurt you. She was just trying to protect her sister."

"And what? She thought that I would run around telling everyone that the ThunderClan medicine cat was expecting a WindClan cat's kits? I thought she trusted me. I thought that she knew that I would have tried to help them, but instead she lied and let me think that the kits that I was so proud of were mine." He looked away.

Firestar sighed. "Maybe she didn't want to get you included in it, and thought that you would be a better father if you thought they were yours." It sort of made sense, but it wasn't enough for Brambleclaw. Of course he wanted to forgive Squirrelflight, some day, but she didn't deserve it.

"She should have known how I would feel," Brambleclaw muttered under his breath. "I tell her everything. I did trust her with my life. But now I don't know if I can trust her to go out hunting by herself."

The ginger tom hesitated, picking his next words carefully. "I think that you should take a break for awhile. I can get Graystripe and Brackenfur to arrange the patrols for you. Just for a few days, or until you feel better. Is that alright?" he asked quiet.

That actually sounded that kind of nice to him. He could hide in the warriors' den now without having to go out and deal with the patrols and stuff, even if it was for a few days. "Okay," Brambleclaw agreed. "But just for a few days."

Firestar smiled. "Good. Now let's go see Jayfeather- that's an order, not a suggestion- and you can go back to sleep."

Brambleclaw sighed and nodded. "Okay," he agreed reluctantly, allowing himself to be escorted to the medicine cat's den. Jayfeather looked up at them as they padded in, his blind blue eyes glimmering.

"Hi, Firestar, Brambleclaw," he greeted before turning back to his herbs that he was sorting. Blossomkit and Toadkit were both watching him, their eyes wide as he moved a thyme leaf out of a clump of marigold and placed it with the other thyme leaves. The kits both gasped as if he had performed a great, heroic act. Spiderleg was laying in the corner, making sure Toadkit wasn't annoying Jayfeather.

Firestar purred as the kits saw him and ran over to him, their tails waving in the air excitedly.

"Hi, Firestar!" Blossomkit squeaked, pawing at his whiskers sweetly. Toadkit pounced at his tail, catching it neatly. Firestar purred in amusement and nuzzled Blossomkit affectionately and flicked his tail away from Toadkit and moved it around in front of him to catch again.

Brambleclaw blinked at Toadkit. He and his sister, Rosekit, would be apprenticed soon. He cast a glance at Firestar, wondering if he would be allowed to mentor one to get his mind off of Squirrelflight.

Jayfeather narrowed his eyes at Brambleclaw. "What do you need?" he asked, stepping away from the herbs.

"Um, Firestar wanted me to come… I don't know…"

"Anything to make him feel better? Poppy seeds? Thyme, because I think he's a little bit in shock," Firestar interrupted.

"As we all are," added Spiderleg with a small, post-greencough cough. Toadkit left Firestar to go snuggle into his father's fur. Spiderleg winced in pain as his paw poked his sore side.

Jayfeather nodded, not making eye contact with Brambleclaw. He turned and disappeared into the store, returning a moment later with a few poppy seeds. He grabbed a couple of the thyme leaves that he had just stocked and dropped them at Brambleclaw's feet. He held out his blue-gray paw for him to lick the poppy seeds off. Brambleclaw bent his head to eat the thyme leaves, inhaling their sharp, wonderful scent as he chewed. He rasped his tongue around his lips to get the last traces of them off.

Blossomkit was sitting on Firestar's paws, looking up at him. "Can I be an apprentice now?" she begged. "I can already fight really good!" She jumped off of his paws and began flailing around everywhere, lashing out her paws before landing the ground with all four of her legs out-stretched.

Firestar laughed and picked her up, placing her back on her little white paws. "Not right now, Blossomkit, but you'll be apprenticed really soon, I promise." He licked his best friend's daughter's ears gently. Blossomkit purred.

Brambleclaw's eyes already were beginning to droop. "I'm going back to sleep." He stood up and padded to the warriors' den, falling asleep the moment he was in his nest. The last thing he remembered was a ginger she-cat laying down next to him, whispering, "I'm sorry," to him.


	4. Chapter 4

"Let all cats who are old enough to catch their own prey…" Brambleclaw heard Firestar call and sleepily shuffled to High Ledge. Most of the cats were already gathered underneath it. He pushed through the Clan until he was waved over by Graystripe and Sandstorm.

Firestar looked down at his Clan, pride bursting all around him. "It is time that Foxpaw and Icepaw to take their rightful place in ThunderClan as warriors," he announced. Foxpaw and Icepaw were sitting in front of the Highledge, barely able to contain their excitement. Firestar coughed to clear his throat and began the ritual that had been passed down through the generations of leaders for countless seasons. "I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these apprentices. They have worked hard to learn the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to be made warriors in their turn. Foxpaw, Icepaw," he said, looking down at the young reddish-brown tabby tom, "do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

"I do," Foxpaw, meowed, as did Icepaw.

"Then by the power of StarClan I give you your warrior names. Foxpaw, from this moment on your will be known as Foxwhisker. StarClan honors your bravery and swiftness." Foxwhisker raised his head proudly. "Icepaw, you shall be known as Icetail. StarClan honors your kindness and selflessness." Icetail purred happily and licked Firestar's shoulder while Foxwhisker licked his other.

Brambleclaw remembered his own warrior ceremony and how much he had wished for his sister, Tawnypelt, to be there with him getting her warrior name. Foxwhisker should feel lucky to have his littermate there with him.

After the Clan had greeted the two new warriors by their new names, Firestar jumped back onto the Highledge. "Also, it is time for Daisy's kits to be apprenticed. Rosekit, until you have earned your warrior name you shall be known as Rosepaw. Berrynose will be your mentor. And Toadkit, you will be Toadpaw until you earn your warrior name. Foxwhisker, even though you are a new warrior, you will be Toadpaw's mentor."

Foxwhisker's face lit up as he touched noses with Toadpaw. Rosepaw bounced over to Berrynose and did the same. Brambleclaw watched a look of dismay and jealousy cross Icetail's face, but it was quickly replaced with pride for her brother.

Daisy padded over to Toadpaw and Rosepaw and covered them with proud licks, purring. "I'm so proud of you," she told them, wrapping her tail around Toadpaw and licking his head, and nuzzled Rosepaw.

Brambleclaw caught Squirrelflight giving Daisy a distressed look and was tempted to go over to her, but instead she came to him.

"Brambleclaw… I… I know what I did was wrong, and I'm really sorry about it, but… I have another secret to tell you… two, actually… can we talk about it in private?" Squirrelflight's eyes were pleading. "It's really important."

He hesitated. "Alright, come on." He led her a few tail-lengths out of camp. "Okay, so out with it."

Squirrelflight looked at her paws, taking a moment to think about what she was getting ready to say. "First… I really was pregnant. I had gone out to give birth to the kits and was going to have Leafpool help me nurse them when she could until hers were born, but Leafpool started kitting right after ours were born… ours were born dead."

Brambleclaw's eyes widened in shock. "Is this another thing you couldn't trust me with?" he growled.

She looked up, her eyes wide. "No, I just didn't want to upset you with that when you didn't have to know, and you would have known about Leafpool's kits."

He looked away. "Go on. What's the second secret."

Squirrelflight's eyes began to water. "I'm expecting kits again, Brambleclaw, and these really are ours. I was going to tell you last night after the Gathering, but then Hollyleaf…"

"You're pregnant!" he exclaimed, shooting up. "What? When did this happen?"

She blushed. "Um, well… right before you went off to find Sol. My... good-bye present."Brambleclaw felt his face flush too in embarrassment. "I'm not that far along…"

Brambleclaw felt torn. What did she expect him to do? Come running back to her after everything that she had put him through? "What do you want from me, Squirrelflight? Do you want me back? Because I'm through with you. I'll help with the kits- at least I know that these are mine, at least they BETTER be- but that's it."

Tears rolled down Squirrelflight's cheeks. "Please, Brambleclaw… I'll do anything for you. I'll never lie to you again. I was such an idiot. Of course I should have trusted you- I love you and you trusted me… I just didn't want to make you lie to the Clan when you're the deputy… and now you don't love me anymore and you'll probably go off and be mates with some bimbo because that's normally what toms do when they break up with their mates …"

Brambleclaw stared at her. "Squirrelflight, look. I do love you, I just don't want to be your mate anymore because I don't think that I can ever trust you again. And I think that I can do better than a bimbo."

Squirrelflight looked back down at her paws, the dirt around the getting wet as the tears made impact with the ground. "I should have chose Ashfur!" she yelled at him and ran back to camp, leaving Brambleclaw staring after her with his mouth hanging open in shock.


	5. Part 2

**This is part two of **_**Since You've Been Gone**_**!**

A moon had passed since Hollyleaf had told the Clans at the Gathering that she and her two brothers, Lionblaze and Jayfeather, were not the noble deputy, Brambleclaw, and his mate, Squirrelflight, kits, but the ThunderClan medicine cat Leafpool and the WindClan warrior Crowfeather's. The news had shocked everyone, especially Brambleclaw who had raised the three kits, thinking that they were his own. After Hollyleaf had made the stunning announcement, she had ran back to camp. Sometime after she had calmed down enough to go hunting, she chased a squirrel into the tunnels and they had collapsed on her. Lionblaze and Jayfeather had been devastated and seemed to have been clinging to Dovekit and Ivykit, spending every free moment they had with them. Their mother, Whitewing, didn't mind at all- she liked having them for babysitters. Although she was quite confused at their interest in them, she never bothered to ask.

Now Brambleclaw was dealing with trying to trust Squirrelflight again. She had hurt him several times before, but this time was different. He felt as if he could never forgive her, that what she had done was unforgivable. At least, at the moment. And now she was truly pregnant with his kits. Every time he saw her, Leafpool was hovering over her, telling her to take it easy and be careful, not to strain herself, and occasionally Brambleclaw wondered if it should be him that was the one hovering over her instead. After all, these really were his kits, unless that was another lie Squirrelflight had told him.


	6. Chapter 6

_Brambleclaw shivered and sat up, drenched to the bone as rain water fell down upon him from a crack in the roof of the warriors' den. He flattened his ears in disdain and stood up, shaking the thick moisture out of his dark brown tabby fur. The water went everywhere, receiving many disgruntled mumbles from the other warriors that were trying to sleep. His jaws parted in a wide yawn, his magnificent fangs jutting out. He blinked tiredly and slowly headed towards the dirtplace tunnel, calling a greeting to Mousewhisker as he passed him. To his surprise, Hazeltail and Poppyfrost were there, covering Spiderleg in licks. The long-legged black tom was just sitting there, his face flushed and purring loudly."Uh… what's going on?" Brambleclaw asked, his eyes widening._

_Hazeltail and Poppyfrost stopped licking Spiderleg and looked up at Brambleclaw, both giggling. "Oh, nothing," Hazeltail said in a giggly tone, nuzzling Spiderleg's cheek. Spiderleg was grinning ear to ear and gave each of the she-cats that were fussing over him both a quick lick on the ear and padded past Brambleclaw out the exit._

_Brambleclaw looked at Hazeltail and Poppyfrost accusingly. "Care to explain?" he said with an irritated edge._

_Hazeltail blinked. To Brambleclaw's satisfaction, her face began to turn from flirty to uncertain. "We were… Spiderleg… Spiderleg's kind of cute, you know?" She blinked again at Brambleclaw's blank, serious expression. "Alright, you don't know. You're a guy. But we like Spiderleg and he likes when we fuss over him like that so… yeah…" Poppyfrost nodded in agreement._

_There was a moment of silence between the deputy and the two young she-cats. Brambleclaw shifted uncomfortably. "Oh… but why the dirtplace where anyone could see you?"_

"_Who would care? I don't even understand why you're acting so upset about this. It's not like we did anything wrong- we were just playing with him, and he didn't tell us to stop." Hazeltail looked up at him with her deep blue, tear-filled eyes. "Why don't you want us to have any fun?"_

_Brambleclaw unsheathed his claws, not falling for the fake crying trick. "Stop the nonsense, Hazeltail. I'm upset because I would like to come here without seeing someone giving Spiderleg a lap dance."_

"_We weren't anywhere near that part…" Poppyfrost said quietly, looking like she was about to burst into tears at being reprimanded by Brambleclaw. "We're sorry, Brambleclaw. Next time we'll take him to the forest when we want to love on him."_

"_Good." Brambleclaw then felt a weird urge to laugh at the situation. It was ridiculous, chewing them out for pressing up to Spiderleg like that- Spiderleg had seemed delighted and thrilled at having them fuss over him like they were, which Brambleclaw thought was kind of funny and creepy at the same time. It was true that he didn't want them to be doing it in a place where anyone could easily walk in, such as a young apprentice, or even one of their parents. _

_Hazeltail peered up at him. "Do you want us to go hunting or something?" she asked cautiously. "We hunted this morning and caught a lot. Poppyfrost caught a crow that was trying to fly off. It was already two fox-lengths off the ground!" She smiled at her friend, purring._

_Poppyfrost blushed, shuffling her paws in embarrassment._

_Brambleclaw purred. "That's really good, Poppyfrost. I wish I could have been there to see it. Did you take it to the queens or elders?"_

_The pretty tortoiseshell shook her head. "No, I forgot to. I think that Foxwhisker snatched it up right after I dropped in the fresh-kill pile and went off to share it with Briarkit, so it sort of went to the nursery…"_

"_Good." Brambleclaw glanced around. "Well, um, you two do need to go on a patrol, so Hazeltail, can you lead one for me again- the evening? Bring Dustpelt, Lionblaze, and Mousewhisker with you. Hunt on the way back. And Poppyfrost, you lead a hunting patrol. Take Icetail and Cinderheart."_

_They nodded eagerly. Poppyfrost dashed off without a moment to spare, but Hazeltail stayed behind for a second. "Brambleclaw…? I was wondering if later you'd like to go hunting with me, just the two of us, if you want…"_

"_Uh, sure..." Brambleclaw smiled. "That would be nice."_

_She purred, her tail curled up in delight. "Cool! I'll see you later then." She darted off to get the evening patrol together. As he watched her gray-and-white body run off, he felt almost a little excited about hunting with her. Brambleclaw had watched her hunt several times. She was a good hunter, stalking her prey patiently and pouncing at the very last second. He had never seen her miss a kill. Then he felt a little self-conscious, hoping to StarClan that he wouldn't lose any prey in front of her._

_Brambleclaw shook his head and padded back to the warriors' den to get some more sleep._


	7. Chapter 7

**He was woke up by one of the patrols returning, and sat up excitedly to see Hazeltail standing beside him, purring.**

"**Ready to go?" she asked, giving his ear a friendly lick. "The abandoned Twoleg den seems to crawling with prey! Want to hunt there?" Brambleclaw nodded, not particularly caring where they hunted.**

**They exited the den and headed towards the exit of camp. Brambleclaw felt that he was being glared at and turned around to see Leafpool sitting outside of the nursery, her amber eyes cold. He frowned, deciding to ignore her, and followed Hazeltail. Hazeltail was already about five fox-lengths away and he had to rush to keep up with the enthusiastic she-cat. They padded along the path the had been flattened by the cats that had traveled many a time during the long moons they had been there. He stared at her tail, which was standing erect, and followed it wherever she went. They reached the abandoned twoleg den- Brambleclaw could still scent the faint traces of the sickness. Hazeltail slipped in first, running her tail along Brambleclaw's flank affectionately as she passed.**


End file.
